and your own household. Are you not content to hold, in relation to me, the rank of Aaron to Moses—except that no prophet will come after me?” ʿAlī then returned to Madinah.

Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim relate, through the chain of al-Ḥakam b. ʿUtaybah, from Muʿṣab b. Saʿd, from his father, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ left ʿAlī in Madinah during the expedition to Tabūk. ʿAlī said, “Messenger of Allah, will you leave me behind among women and children?” He replied, “Are you not pleased to be to me what Aaron was to Moses, save that there is no prophet after me?”

This same report was transmitted by ʿĀmir and Ibrāhīm, the two sons of Saʿd b. Abī Waqqāṣ, on the authority of their father.

Ibn Isḥāq said: Buraydah b. Sufyān related to me, from Muḥammad b. Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, from ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd, who said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out for Tabūk, every time a man lagged behind, people would say, “Messenger of Allah, so-and-so has stayed back.” He would answer, “Leave him be; if there is any good in him Allah will join him to you, and if not, Allah has relieved you of him.” Eventually they said, “Messenger of Allah, Abū Dharr has stayed behind; his camel has slowed him.” He said, “Leave him; if there is any good in him Allah will cause him to catch up with you, and if not, Allah has relieved you of him.”

Abū Dharr kept urging his camel, but when it lagged too much he took his belongings, slung them over his back, and set out on foot after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ halted at one of his stopping places, and a lookout from among the Muslims said, “Messenger of Allah, there is a man walking on the road.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “May it be Abū Dharr!” When the people looked closely they said, “By Allah, it is Abū Dharr.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, “May Allah have mercy on Abū Dharr: he walks alone, dies alone, and will be raised alone.”

Time passed, and Abū Dharr was later sent to al-Rabadha. When death approached him, he instructed his wife and his servant: “When I die, wash me, shroud me, and lay me at the edge of the road. The first